Obama Discusses Blagojevich During Press Conference

President-elect Obama, during a press conference to announce former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle as the head of Health and Human Services, discussed Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich's alleged corruption. Obama emphasized that his staff has not been involved with deal-making for the Senate seat Obama is vacating, "That would be a violation of everything that this campaign has been about."

Obama also said, "I have never spoken to the governor on this subject.I am confident that no representatives of mine would have any part of any deals related to this seat. I think the materials released by the U.S. attorney reflect that fact," and reiterated that Blagojevich should resign. "I think the public trust has been violated. I do not think that the governor at this point can effectively serve the people of Illinois."

Obama will list his staff's contact with Blago's office in the next few days. The President-elect also discussed the auto bailout, decrying the possibility that politics will derail the plan, and news that weekly jobs claims were at a 26-year high, with 573,000 applying for first-time unemployment benefits.